I’ve completed the 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge, and have read about 128 of 125 books… so far – (that is just the Goodreads challenge, not Shadow Girl‘s personal goal… I am far from finished!)Just try to stop me – It’s not even October yet!

I may be 36 books ahead of [the GR] schedule, but do you realize just how many books on my 2016Must Read list are not even published yet?! (not to mention my ‘don’t judge me’list or my ‘guilty pleasure’ list – No. I have no shame).

OMG, these authors are killing me!

But, I wouldn’t want to go any other way.

Big, BIG, HUGE thanks to the minds behind the mayhem.

You guys are a large & very important part of my life, and I’m lucky enough to call many of you my friends. Thank you for the journeys so far, and I can’t wait to see where we’re going next!! P, L & N ♥ ~sg

“Follow only if you be men of valor, for the entrance to this cave is guarded by a creature so foul, so cruel that no man yet has fought with it and lived! Bones of full fifty men lie strewn about its lair, so brave knights, if you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further!” “For death awaits you all with nasty big pointy teeth.”

‘Experience demented rabbits, chocolate obsessed children drowning in their own greed, serial killers, resurrection and more in this collection guaranteed to kill the cravings of your sweet tooth.’

Desert by Matt Shaw“If you’re good – you get chocolate! If you’re bad… He hops right on by…”
Matt Shaw kicks off this collection with a dark tale about a boy who is on Easter break from school, but wishing he was anywhere but home at the moment.

There is a strange noise coming from the hallway – had someone broken in to abduct him, or to hurt his family? Terrified, he grabs a cricket bat and ventures out to see what is lurking in the shadows…

On a more personal note…
DESERT is a heartbreaking short story – ‘Justin’ is such a brave, wise, and generous little boy who is continuously hurt by the man who is supposed to love him unconditionally. Reading this (and please forgive me for saying this…), makes me want to hunt down the “Senior Sperm Donor” and punch him in the face. So… Happy Fucking Easter – let’s move on.

Bastard Bunny by David Owain Hughes Don’t make fun of the guy in the bunny suit – you never know when he could just SNAP and lose his shit! Take a lesson from the people who survive office massacres – throw the weirdos a Snickers every once in a while, and keep your comments to yourself.

Duncan Ralston provides us with an entirely different definition of ‘resurrection’ in His Is Risen!

Want to know more about this SS? There is only one way to find out what is behind the door…

*Bonus points for teaching me ‘DRWS MARWOLAETH’.

The Chickens and the 3 Gods by Kit Power
The chickens loved C’ra and R’ak. They tried their best to please, and defer to their Hen & Cock Humans – until the day they brought the mini-human, B’rok to the garden. B’rok brought terror and destruction, yet C’ra and R’ak did nothing to save them. The chickens had been forsaken by their Gods, and now a change in power is in order.

Wicker Baskets by Kindra Sowder

Little Jesse loves any holiday that brings with it the promise of candy. He goes to bed excited to find out what the Easter Bunny will bring him in the morning. What he finds when he wakes up will make this an Easter that he will never forget.

My Last Easter by Jack Rollins First off, kudos to the author for the name of his main character! Way to show some love, Jack! Second – the little sister, Charlotte, grated my nerves… what a whine-y, tattle tale little bitch! I’d look forward to my last Easter if I had to be around that every day.

Lepus by Stuart Keane
SK puts a modern horror spin onto the mythology, astrology, and lexology of Lepus – and it’s genius.

FunFact: I made a Kindle Note @ Location 1358 that reads: “Cue background music HERE” (I always have background music. The CD will be available for purchase at my funeral).

Little Bunny by Glenn Rolfe
The fluffy brown bunny draws Marlow Shuman deep into Brenner’s Woods where the line between her nightmares and reality is blurred. She comes face to face with the past, and things aren’t what they seemed – but which version of “the truth” is correct, and who can be trusted?

Run Rabbit Run by Michael Bray
Gerald Rose is going to make a statement this year and show people the error of their ways. Easter isn’t about gorging Cadburry eggs & marshmallow Peeps – no sir. Reverend Rose is going to show people the true meaning of Easter.

When A Bunny Snaps by Jim Goforth
Josiah is celebrating Easter at one of his favorite bars – Fantasy Dress. He’s on the wrong side of sober when he sees Bunny sneak out for a smoke break, and he decides to follow her to have a little ‘chat’. Beaten, bloody, and bruised in the alley behind the bar – she can take no more. Something in her snaps, and nothing is going to stop her from getting the payback that she deserves.

Help Me by Neil Buchanan
Jo wakes up from a wicked bender with very hazy snapshots of the night before starting to come into focus. There’s also a little voice calling out for help inside his head – which he is not in the mood for right now.
However, Ishtar is in no mood to be ignored.

Educating Horace by Matt Hickman
Being 14 isn’t a picnic for any kid, but for Horace Davidson it is a nightmare. He has been coddled by his mother his entire life, becoming an overweight, under-educated misfit bullied relentlessly by his peers. He escapes the torment by losing himself in daydreams & fantasies, but not today. Today is Easter, and his mom has more than chocolate to put in his wicker basket this year.

Deb Loves Robbie by Mark West

This short made me feel like I was riding through a Romeo and Juliet themed Tunnel of Love, if it were created by David Lynch, and George Romero!

♥ ‘Robbie & Deb ~ Nor Death Do Us Part’ ♥

The Tradition is explained to us by Kyle M. Scott. Local legend says that the true spirit of Easter, embodied by a creature that predates Christianity, demands sacrifice in order to keep the children of Abbington Wood safe year after year.
The first born child of any household, under the age of 18, has to paint themselves onto an egg and offer it up to the creature. If the representation of the soul isn’t offered up willingly, the creature will come to collect the real thing. You don’t want to do things the hard way.

Hey-Zeus by Duncan P. Bradshaw
Easter Eve is one of the biggest bar nights of the year, I’ve missed more than one Easter Sunday breakfast with the fam because I was too hungover to even think about smelling ham & deviled eggs 😡Ed, Guy, and Harry party like goddamn rock stars on Maundy Thursday. I thought I’ve partied, but I’ve NEVER reenacted The Easter Story with my friends! 3:)

Feldman’s Rabbit by Rich Hawkins
The man that entered the old house was shivering, starving, and half-frozen, but determined to survive. He can sustain with the Easter basket he found – “Feldman’s going to be just fine.” But, is he? Is the house driving him mad, the chocolate Easter eggs he consumed, or was he half-mad to begin with? It doesn’t matter, because Feldman is happier than he could ever remember being.

On The Third Day by Graeme Reynolds

What have I been telling you all these years?

“If it shambles like a zombie, and groans like a zombie…”

…you know how to finish that sentence.

Easter Eggs by Chantal Noordeloos
If a newly pregnant Rosemary Woodhouse traveled to Summerisle with her husband for a pagan holiday ritual with the fam – it might turn out something like EASTER EGGS. Chantal has captured elements of two iconic horror films and weaved them into a darkly original story that will stay with you long after you’ve finished.

Easter Hunt by author JR Park
Old Pat was hiding this year’s batch of chocolate eggs for the Church’s annual Easter Egg Hunt when he disappeared into the odd, cream colored mist. Once Sunday services were over, and the strange mist dissipated, the town’s children run towards the field to begin their search. They find a lot more than eggs to put in their baskets this year!

The Jesus Loophole by Luke Smitherd

Forget about bunnies & eggs; Easter is about Christ’s torture porn style death as atonement for all the sins of man, allowing us to ask for – and receive – forgiveness. But… what if you feel no remorse for you sins? Is it possible to “cheat the system”? If you want to find a loophole in God’s law there are two men you can ask… Kevin Smith, and Luke Smitherd.